J. Michael Cline, the founder of movie ticket firm Fandango, is dead after he jumped from the 20th floor at the Kimberly Hotel in Midtown Manhattan.
In a statement on Thursday from law enforcement, Cline appears to have jumped on his own and at this time there is no foul play suspected.
Cline, who was 64 years old, left behind a note saying, "So sorry. I can’t explain the pain of f— up this much. I love you all."
While this doesn't give much to go off of, we do know that Cline was an entrepreneur which means that there could have been any number of stressors that pushed him to the edge.
Cline leaves behind six children that he shared with his wife Pamela.
Cline had a long and distinguished career as he founded Fandango in 2000 and worked with that company until 2011 when he left.
Fandango was so successful that it was purchased by NBCUniversal and is now the go-to service for buying movie tickets.
The pandemic hit the company hard as the entire movie industry was shut down and theaters closed for months on end. While Cline wasn't working for Fandango at the time, it's likely he had a significant financial interest in the company that was adversely affected by the shutdowns.
Cline was well educated as he attended Cornell University and Harvard Business School and this set him up for success in his future business endeavors.
He founded the company Acumen, an outsourcer of lab operations for large hospitals, in 2010. He also founded Accolade, a vendor of health services for large employers and hospital systems, in 2007 and worked as founder and chairman through 2022.
He was deeply involved in medical services which would have benefited him greatly during the pandemic but all of this information is speculative and there is still no concrete evidence on what drove Cline to jump from the 20th floor of the Kimberly Hotel.
For now, answers on Cline's sudden suicide will have to wait as law enforcement continues their investigation into his death.
Anytime a significant figure who is as powerful as Cline suddenly dies it raises questions. It's clear he was under immense mental stress but the question is what was the exact cause of that stress.
While it could have simply been a matter of bad mental health, Cline left behind six children which indicates that it's possible there was something more to this tragedy.
